ABRANTES  , a

town of central Portugal, in the district of Santarem, formerly included in the province of Estremadura; on the right bank of the river Tagus, at the junction of the Madrid—Badajoz--Lisbon railway with the Guarda—Abrantes line . Pop . (1900) 7255 . Abrantes, which occupies the crest of a hill covered with olive woods, gardens and vines, is a fortified town, with a thriving trade in fruit, olive oil and grain . As it commands the highway down the Tagus valley to Lisbon, it has usually been regarded as an important military position . Originally an Iberian settlement, founded about 300 B.C., it received the name Aurantes from the Romans; perhaps owing to the alluvial gold (aurum) found along the Tagus . Roman mosaics, coins, the remains of an aqueduct, and other antiquities have been discovered in the neighbourhood . Abrantes was captured on the 24th of November 1807 by the French under General Junot, who for this achievement was created duke of Abrantes . By the Convention of Cintra (22nd of August 18o8) the town was restored to the British and Portuguese .